AlphaGrip Starts Mass Production

punchy_boy writes "The AlphaGrip AG-5 is finally starting production. News of pre-orders for this device was reported 6 months ago. This device is a keyboard and mouse in a 'gamepad' style form factor. It's been a while coming and the guy(s) at AlphaGrip deserve a pat on the back for sticking with it. I was so enthusiastic about this device I wrote some software to help me learn to use it properly (alt link)."

Comments

Control Freaks

[Doc Ruby]

I'm surprised we haven't seen a lot more novel controllers for our gizmos. We've got a lot of different people, coming from different experiences all over the world, playing many different games, musical instruments, working with a vast array of tools. And experimental hardware is very cheap and accessible to design and produce, even in limited quantities. So why are we stuck with basically QWERTY, mouse, D-pad, and a "handful" of variations and combos? Let a thousand controllers bloom! Each with a USB connection and an open-source driver :).

It's an interesting gadget ...

[GNUALMAFUERTE]

But i just can't get used to this kind of stuff ...

I have thought about getting out of qwerty many times, but, even when there are some input/control devices that are better and faster than the classic ones, so many years using the classic designs lets us type as fast with them as one could do with newer toys. Also, it's pretty hard to get used to that kind of changes.

I have tried DVORAK, and even a crazy experimental layout that i found out there ...

k , u y p w l m f c
o a e i d r n t h s
q . ' ; z x v g b j

Here is the link to experiment that created this layout: http://www.visi.com/~pmk/evolved.html

In conclussion, this devices might be very comfortable, but an old hacker just won't get used to them.

BTW: The site is slow, here is the google cache link: http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:qO6W-dkdz4kJ: www.alphagrip.com/+&hl=es

Re:It's an interesting gadget ...

[karniv0re]

Even if there was a tested an proven layout that would gaurantee quicker results than QWERTY, why would anyone want to give up QWERTY? It's taken me years to perfect touch typing with QWERTY. On a good day with pretty simple sentences, I can easily do 100 WPM. So even if I could theoretically acheive an excess of 100 WPM with, say Dvorak, the time it would take to learn it, as well as the non-portability of the skill (what are the odds of finding another Dvorak keyboard wherever you go), are not worth it.

To compliment your quote: "An old hacker can't get used to them," you're right. We're going to stick with the tried and true. Maybe if you raise kids on a combination of Dvorak and QWERTY, they would better off, like teaching them two languages when they're young, but us old guys raised on QWERTY (yeah, 22 is old, shut up) are going to find it hard learning new tricks.

Re:It's an interesting gadget ...

[midav]

So even if I could theoretically acheive an excess of 100 WPM with, say Dvorak, the time it would take to learn it, as well as the non-portability of the skill (what are the odds of finding another Dvorak keyboard wherever you go), are not worth it.

Man, I wish you knew what you were talking about. I have switched to Dvorak about 3 years ago so I am talking from my own experience. First, it takes about two weeks to re-train your motor skills to a different layout even for a klutz like myself. Second, in both Windows and Linux (can not say much about Mac, but more than sure that in Mac OSes too) you can set up Dvorak keyboard layout through the Control Panel or its equivalent.

While I admit that I am not typing faster than when I was using QWERTY (most probably, because my dexterity limits kick in long before those of difference between QWERTY and Dvorak,) I can safely say that hand/wrist strain is much less when you are using Dvorak, so your motivation is your closeness to the carpal syndrome.

Strange, but useful seeming

[Anonymous Coward]

I wasn't really interested, untill I watched his little demo video. I really like the idea of being able to type while sitting in my lay-z-boy and not having to handle a wireless keyboard. I am sure it has a learning curve like anything else, but I am an avid console gamer and I think I could pick it up in a week or so, I might just order one right now.

A new keybard design? How.... exciting.

[Mike1024]

Seems to me that there have been a lot of attempts made to come up with better keyboard designs - Dvorak; that alphabetical keyboards; chordic keyboards; split keyboards; weird keyboards; other weird keyboards; and so on.

Call me when one of them has broad market acceptance.

Michael

Re:This

[iowannaski]

My PS2 steering wheel took 2-3 seconds off my GT3 lap times.

More importantly, it helped me suspend disbelief when I was pretending to drive a car on my TV.

If a controller shaped keyboard could help me suspend disbelief while I try to make interesting points on /., I would be all over it.